Graduation and My First Birthday in Japan

March 10th is my birthday. It also happened to be JHS graduation day. It was also a Tuesday.

I go to the ES every Tuesday, but the JHS made a special arrangement so that I could attend the graduation ceremony. So on the morning of March 10th, I went to the JHS instead of the ES.

At school, everyone was rushing around getting last minute things done. We had the graduation ceremony in our new gym! We had spent the day before getting it ready. The ceremony began at 9:30, but I went in a bit early to watch the last minute practice. Then I took my seat along the side, with all the other teachers.

The ceremony was about an hour and a half long. It began with a short opening speech, and then we jumped right in to giving out the diplomas. Each student had their name called by their homeroom teacher as they went on stage, but the whole process of getting up there was quite the sight! The students walked very slowly and made 90 degree turns. There were different points along the way where the students stopped - at the bottom of the stairs, at the top of the stairs, halfway across the stage, in front of the podium to the right, and finally they would move to the left side of the podium, where they received their diplomas from the principal (who was dressed in a tuxedo, I might add). That part took about 25 minutes, for just under 60 students.

JHS Graduation ceremony (from http://www.torikyo.ed.jp/tizu-j/)

After the diplomas, there were lots of speeches, including from the mayor, someone important from the city hall, and the head of the PTA. The students also gave speeches, praising each other for their attitudes and study habits. One important part of student events here is singing, and indeed there were multiple songs song by both the graduating class and the 1st and 2nd year students.

All the graduating students (from http://www.torikyo.ed.jp/tizu-j/)

At the end of the ceremony, the 3rd years walked out, while everyone applauded. After that I helped clean up the gym with the other students. I don't really know what happened after that, because I had to go over to the ES for the rest of the afternoon.

At the ES, the 6th graders were having their graduation buffet school lunch. I had one already last month with the 3rd years at JHS, so I got 2 buffet lunches! I actually enjoyed the one at the ES better, as there was more food I liked. Some of the food we had: mushroom and sausage pizza, broccoli, noodle and meatball soup, gobo salad, karaage, fried potatoes cut like stars, omelets with chili con carne sauce, shrimp gratin, fruit and jelly salad, and cake.

Since it was the graduation, the staff from the JHS had a party planned for that evening. After school I ran home to quickly get ready, and then I met N-sensei and O-sensei, who gave me a ride to the party. I should add that it was freaking BLIZZARDING, so it was a bit of a tricky drive there.

When we arrived at the party, we drew lots to determine seats, as usual. I was sitting with teachers I don't normally talk to very often, but K-sensei, one of my JTEs, sat across from me. The majority of the night was pretty boring, to be honest. I was tired and it was difficult to follow the conversation and speeches. The food wasn't too bad, but it kind of gave me a stomachache. However, I had mentioned to K-sensei that it was my birthday, so when the dessert course came, so did a huge dessert plate with candles and "Happy Birthday アーニャ" written on the plate in chocolate sauce. Everyone sang happy birthday TWICE and made me blow out the candles twice as well! Then I shared my plate with the teachers sitting near me. O-sensei also gave me a gorgeous chocolate cake to bring home. Funnily enough, Justin had made me a cake while I was out, so in total I got FOUR CAKES on my birthday. It was definitely a good night.

My birthday dessert plate

Things & Stuff

January 28th
The 1st graders at the ES had some sort of traditional games day with a bunch of elderly folks from Chizu and the surrounding area. I was at JHS, but K-sensei asked me to attend and I was able to head over for the duration of the program. The elderly people were teaching the kids string games (like cat's cradle), spinning tops, paper airplanes, and some other traditional games. I sat with the string group to begin with. I had some trouble doing some of the more complicated creations, but when it was time to move to the next group, the new group of kids doing string begged me to come with them, so I ended up getting to try everything over again!


February 12th
At the ES, the kids have clubs once a month. I have always attended cooking club, but randomly the teacher in charge of making things club asked me to attend. Turns out the kids were making baskets! There were some elderly folks there to instruct us. I actually got there a bit late, so I was a little lost at first, but then I really started to get the hang of it. The kids were really good, too! I love the look of these kinds of handicrafts, and it was really neat to be able to learn this tradition. So I was glad the teacher randomly asked me to come!

February 23rd
The JHS 3rd graders had a viking kyuushoku, that is, a buffet school lunch. All the teachers were invited and divided up among the two classes. I went to 3-1, and the students presented me with a personal invitation. I was actually really excited because the menu looked alright, but my hopes and dreams were immediately smashed upon sitting down. The students had already made me a tray - which was kind, to be sure, but they had loaded it up with way too much stuff and stuff I didn't want. It was not like a buffet at all! I thought I was going to be able to make my own tray up. And then I felt so guilty about not eating my food that I didn't get up and get any of the fresh fruit and I only just managed to snag a piece of chocolate cake. Anyway, the 6th graders at the ES have the same thing happening in March (it's a graduation celebration thing), and I'm not expecting to be invited or anything, but if I am and if its the same thing at least I'll be prepared.


February 25th
The ES had their "commemorative graduation photo". It was Wednesday, but I was able to leave for an hour to go over for the photo. Actually, it worked out well because I didn't have any classes anyway - the JHS kids all had tests. When I got there everyone was running around in a fluster, getting into their suits. Even though the photo is only for the 6th graders, every single staff member is in the photo - AND! The mayor and head of education, too! I still love how they do photos here; its really amusing to me for some reason. They are so particular - the photographer and his helper were physically arranging the clothing on the teachers in the front row. And at one point he even stopped shooting to come up and tell the lady standing behind me that her hair was sticking up. Anyway, I think I ordered a copy of the photo, so if I get that, I'll be sure to share (student faces blocked out, of course!).

November to December

I've had a fairly busy last week of November here!

Yana ready for her first day of preschool...in Japan!

On Wednesday Yana started at preschool! She attended for three days with Justin, while I was at work. She struggles a bit, but has made a best friend already and she seems to enjoy it well enough.

On Friday I had a very uneventful day, as the JHS students had tests. I pretty much sat at my desk all morning, after which I felt guilty, so in the afternoon I made up a game for my 2nd graders to play.

On Saturday afternoon we headed to a nearby JET's house for a Thanksgiving celebration party. American Thanksgiving, that is. Which is kind of ironic, because the host is from New Zealand. Anyway, that was really fun! And we got to eat lots of yummy food - even a Turkey! Yana enjoyed herself too, and got lots of attention as usual.

On Sunday Chizu ES had a happyoukai, a recital, from 12:15 to 3:45. I brought Justin and Yana along to watch. Each grade did a performance and at the end all the students in the school played an instrumental song together. This year they chose Let it Go (surprise, surprise). We spotted Yana's friend Shi-chan from preschool, so the two of them played together Shi-chan fell asleep. Then Yana smashed her face off the floor, so I had to take her out because she was crying. People are so nice here, so one of the office staff gave her a juice box and that helped.

Chizu Elementary School happyoukai. That's the entire student body.

On Sunday evening the ES teachers had a bonenkai - end of year party - which I attended. I took a rented bus into the city with some other teachers. We had the party at the Hope Star Tottori hotel. It was up in a pretty nice and huge Japanese-style room. The party was fun because we played team games and in the end our team won! We got prizes too, a soup mug. The meal was mostly seafood, so I didn't eat much, but there was a tiny steak and a slice of melon which I enjoyed (I did eat some of the other food too).

On Monday the JHS has tests again, so I decided to take paid leave. I used to opportunity to go to the preschool with Yana. I was able to meet her teacher and see what kinds of things they do. I also took the opportunity to write down the massive list of things the kids need (pajamas, apron, face mask, hand washing towels, etc.). Yana seemed to be doing alright, although she really struggles with lunch. Took her about half an hour to get down one mouthful of food. I feel for her, but all the kids eat the same lunch, so hopefully she can learn to deal with it.

On Tuesday I worked at the ES, but in the afternoon I went over to the JHS with the 5th and 6th graders for a very special ceremony. In Japan, they have traditional ceremonies to bless newly built buildings. There was a whole Shinto ceremony going on on top of the roof, but unfortunately I couldn't really see what was going on. At the end a bunch of important delegates chucked hard lumps of mochi off the roof for people to catch. Everyone was talking about how fun it was, but it was actually terrifying! One piece hit my hand and actually cracked my thumbnail in two places! It was definitely interesting, but to be honest I'm not keen to experience it again!

The mochi cakes I caught.

Note the student covering his head.

On Thursday and Friday I have the SDC - Skills Development Conference. Each prefecture has one sometime around now. Its basically an ALT conference. I will make a separate post about how that goes.

Elementary School Ensoku and Marathon

I taught no classes at ES this week. It was weird!

On Tuesday I was walking to school when the principal stopped me. He kept asking if I was at ES today and then told me that today was ensoku, or field trip/picnic day!

So I went into the teacher's room and we tried to figure out what to do with me. It was decided that I would join the 4th graders on their trip to Forest Therapy in Ashizu. However, I was completely unprepared and didn't have the right clothes or shoes, let alone a lunch! The vice principal - who is amazing - actually GAVE ME HIS LUNCH. I assume his wife made it. I felt so awkward. And also terrified about what might be inside.

Around 9am we left the school and took about a 1/2 hour bus ride through the valleys and then up the mountains to the Forest Therapy. It isn't much - just a gravel parking lot with a bathroom. We got off the bus and divided into six groups, each headed by a guide. Before we left we did group stretching. Also, it was freaking cold!

We walked up a little ways, following the road. But when the road curved we turned off onto a dirt trail, which ran along the edge of the mountain. Now, the trail was pretty narrow most of the way and I have a nearly disabling fear of heights, so I spent most of the day staring at my feet. To top it off, there wasn't always a fence and the students enjoyed kicking rocks and leaves over the edge, which nearly gave me heart palpitations. We went pretty slowly, with the guide pointing out some random things, like a rock which was cracked by dynamite and a "power spot" waterfall. We crossed over some bridges and a really high dam as well.

We went back onto the road for a bit and followed it to where we would eat lunch. It was a grassy area beside a river. I played tag with the kids for a little while before I ate lunch with some of the ES workers (I think they're classroom helpers). I also got a mandarin orange and a bunch of candies from the students! Oh, and the lunch from the vice principal wasn't bad!

We rested for a while, and then looped back around. We crossed over the river, went up and over the dam, and then were back on the same trail as before.

I had wanted to visit Forest Therapy, but I didn't know it involved being on the edge of a mountain! I also am STILL suffering from sore ankles after walking in entirely inappropriate shoes. To be honest, I enjoy looking at the mountains from afar more than being in them. But anyway, it was a good experience.




On Thursday the entire school had a marathon, which so happened to be during my two class periods of the day (convenient). Every grade ran the marathon, although the younger grades had slightly shorter distances. The marathon started with the 6th and 5th graders, then 1st and 2nd graders, and lastly 4th and 3rd graders. They ran 1 or 2 laps around the school yard and then went down the road. I thought it was interesting that they ran on the road. At one point some cars were coming along, so they had to run single file. Each student was also divided into a colored team - there was red, blue, yellow, and green. So students across every grade made up each team. Blue team won!

What I Actually Do As an ALT

Obviously I knew before I applied for JET that the job entailed teaching English to students. But before arriving and in the first month I felt really nervous and uncertain about what exactly my job would be. Its hard for new JETs to know, since ESID (every situation is different) is the unofficial JET motto.

Here's what I do:

I teach at 2 schools, a junior high school and an elementary school. The only other school in town is an agricultural high school and I am the only ALT (aside from one who apparently visits the high school every now and then, but no one seems to know who he is).

I work at the JHS on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. So Tuesdays and Thursdays are ES days.

My contract hours are something like 8am to 4pm, but I arrive early and leave late every day.

I have anywhere from 2 to 5 classes a day. There are a total of 6 class periods, but I've never had 6 classes in a day - thank goodness! I only ever have 2 classes at ES. So my average is probably around 14 classes a week, give or take. Could be upwards around 18, though. Maximum ever would be 22, but that's likely never going to happen (and would be insane!). The class periods are 50 minutes in JHS and 45 minutes in ES. But often there are special schedules, so classes are shortened.

At school I spend a lot of time "desk warming." I am sometimes busy with classes, yes, but often I have at least a few free periods and there are always special things going on which I am excluded from, either because I have no idea whats happening or because I have been told I don't need to participate/ignored. At my desk I work on lesson ideas, study Japanese, browse the internet, or stare out the window. Sometimes I chat with my coworkers, but often I'm alone or with few others in the teacher's room.

At ES I have a few extra responsibilities outside of class. Every morning (except for two days a month) I read an English book to the 4th-1st graders. I go to a different class each time. I am also expected to play with the kids during recess. Sometimes I play the Japanese version of tag or go see what the pet rabbit will eat. Usually I play with the younger kids, since they're not too cool for me. Plus I don't teach them, so I'm more interesting to them. Once a month there are clubs, so I attend those as well. I went to cooking club most recently, but I want to attend the walking places club (I have no idea what to call it), because it seems like a great way to visit local spots. I also help dish out the teacher's lunches. I admit to an ulterior motive - its the perfect way to control my portions! But I do like to help out.

Sometimes we do random activities at ES, like digging up sweet potatoes that the students planted. Unfortunately I feel like I miss out on a lot, since I'm only there twice a week (or less if theres a holiday).

As far as ES lesson planning goes, I don't have to do much. The lessons are all pre-made. Sometimes the HRT (homeroom teacher) wants to rearrange things, but usually we follow the lessons. I have been trying out some different activities, because I feel like the pre-made lessons are a bit redundant and boring.

I only have 2 co-teachers at Es and I play a larger role in class than at JHS. Every class starts with a greeting (hello, how are you). Then we usually do some awful chant from the interactive textbook (we use these smart computer screen things). Next we review or learn the target vocabulary. We tend to do 2 activities using the target vocabulary and grammar. The teacher usually explains the game, and I join in or walk around and see how they're doing. The activities are things like keyword game (students make pairs and put an eraser between them. When I say the key word, they try to grab the eraser first), pointing game (like hand twister, using the images in their textbook), simon says, bingo, making pairs, etc. At the end of class, students have to write a reflection.

At JHS I have more to do and more classes to attend, but I also have less importance in the classroom. I sometimes help make activities for the students, but since I'm still learning I usually follow the JTE's lead. Its also difficult because I can't attend every class, so I'm never sure of where they are in the textbook when I'm teaching. At ES they only ever have English once a week, so I know exactly where I left off.

I teach with 5 JTEs at the JHS. Two are in charge of a special needs class, which only has 2 students (a 1st grader and a 2nd grader). Because of that we spend a lot of time just drilling the vocabulary and sample dialogue. Its a bit boring, to be honest. I don't have that class often (maybe once a week), but I'm hoping to propose some activities to make things a bit more lively.

My third JTE only teaches 1st graders. She is super nice and is the same age as me! She lets me do the most in class. I do things like greetings, handing out papers, modelling pronunciation, checking written work, and writing answers on the board (quizzes and homework). Sometimes I do things on my own, like explain an activity I made or give a short presentation (I just did one introducing my grandmother and had them take a quiz about it). Usually the classes start with a review quiz of the last section, then they take notes or review grammar, and lastly some kind of worksheets or activities.

The fourth JTE teaches 2nd and 3rd graders. I teach with her most often. I don't do much in her class, but the students write the most English, so I mostly spend time checking their work as I wander around. I don't even get to help write on the board or even hand out papers, but I do model dialogue and vocabulary (of course). Recently I have been making more activities for this grade, though, which is great. I always get to introduce my activities. Usually they just take notes and do 1 or 2 activities - often writing or speaking.

The last JTE is actually the vice principal, and she teaches the 3rd graders. She is the main teacher, and the other JTE mainly walks around and helps the students or models dialogue with me. I don't do much in the 3rd grade classes because they do a lot of listening to grammar lectures and translating into Japanese, which I can't help with too much. I mostly just hand out papers and model vocabulary and dialogue. We don't really do any games or activities aside from pairs saying the dialogue to each other. Sometimes this JTE engages me in conversation (what did you think about the sports festival?), which I guess is good for the students to hear, but its random.

At JHS there are some clubs, and some ALTs join them, but I haven't. No one approached me about it and it seems like its mostly sports and band, so I'm not super interested. There are events like the sports festival and the culture festival which I participate in or attend. I also do things like listen to the students practicing their singing and attend pep rallies. Then there was the demonstration lesson and professional development which I had to take part in. In general, I'm not as involved outside of class. I'm hoping to eventually change that a bit. My first goal is to set up and English board, where students can interact with English informally. Starting small.

Anyway, that's a general overview of what I do at work!

Recent Events

I want to write about some things that have happened recently, but they don't really deserve their own post, so here's a collection of short stories:

Picture Day
Last week I received a phone call literally as I was stepping out the front door. It was the JHS vice principal calling to let me know that it was staff picture day and I needed to wear a suit! It was lucky timing, because normally I would have left home already, but I happened to be running late that day.
The picture was taken after school (of course, so I had all day for my hair to go crazy and frizzy). We all lined up outside in front of the school. The photographers were super meticulous...they were having people stand up so they could smooth out their pants and were rearranging ties, shirt collars, and suit jackets. Even the principal was reprimanded twice for not sitting up straight! Anyway, it was an experience that really solidified my new reality...like, now I am officially a part of Chizu JHS history!

"Pep Rally"
There is a big marathon for students in Yonago, so the day before we had a a cheering ceremony. It was nothing like a North American pep rally, but I guess its the closest translation. The students all stood lined up in the hall (not hallway, but the performance hall). The team members walked into the hall and all the students clapped. Then they sang the school song. After that several team members each gave a short speech. Then there was more singing, more speeches, and a coordinated drumming/clapping which all the teachers and students participated in (I just stood there awkwardly, yay).

Demonstration Lesson
On October 24th I had a demonstration lesson in a 2nd grade JHS class. I didn't quite understand what all it entailed until it happened. My JTE and I had spent some time preparing - she made this survey for the students about smartphones. I helped her make a powerpoint presentation about the results. Then we shared the results with the students and had them write opinion compositions about the topic of smartphones using the target grammar point (I think ~. Because ~.) There were like 20 people standing in the classroom and in the hallway watching, which was really nerve-wracking. Most of them were teachers from the ES, so it wasn't so bad, but I did recognize the head of the entire board of education. Anyway, it seemed to go over well! Directly after the lesson we had several hours of professional development - some guy came in and did a presentation on action research, then my JTE and I talked about how the class went, and finally we got into groups and discussed the lesson. It was really exhausting! I'm so glad its over, but now I have an observation lesson on November 19th, where I am observed by the head of Tottori JETs and English education!

Mount Mitoku Fire Festival
We hemmed and hawed a lot over whether we should go to this festival, since Mt. Mitoku is about 2.5 hours away, including 1 train change and a bus. In the end it looked too cool and I knew I would regret not going (it included walking over fire!). So we set off at 8:30am. We arrived at Mt. Mitoku around 11am. Upon disembarking the bus, Yana burst into tears because she didn't get to give the bus driver money (kids are free). She was inconsolable, but a sweet Japanese man came up to us and gave Yana a bag of candy and cookies. He took her by the hand and showed us the way up to where the festival was being held. The Japanese people here are so kind, especially to Yana.
We looked all around and examined the various buildings on the grounds. We drank some free sake, warmed over a fire and served in bamboo cups with a little salt. There was some kind of rice porridge soup as well, but I'm not super fond of porridge, so I decided not to try it. We met up with our old man friend again, and he gave us another box of chocolates, which he had won at the gambling thing they had going. He was super helpful, and told us where to buy the hachimaki headbands for walking over the fire.
Yana was extremely popular during this whole thing. We had our picture taken several times, like when we were washing our hands. At one point two ladies actually stole her away and were doing an impromptu photoshoot with her. Honestly, going out with her is like attending a celebrity. Sometimes she waves to people as she walks down the street. She'll tell them, "konnichiwa," and they go into fits. Its ridiculous!
The main event began at 1:30, so around 12:45 we took a seat on one of the giant blue tarps laid on the ground. We weren't sure if it was okay to sit there, but some kindly old ladies beckoned us closer and even shared their mat. A lady sitting behind us with her dog got a lot of attention from Yana, but she seemed pretty smitten too, so they played together through most of the ceremony.
The ceremony consisted of a procession, chanting, ritualistic axe moves, lighting the fires, archery, and throwing wooden wish tablets on the fire. Finally they lit the walking fire. When the greenery had mostly burned, they pushed it into a pit. Over the pit they laid a bunch of the logs, dousing them with a little water to cool them. The old ladies sitting beside us helped us tie our headbands and literally pushed us into the line (very forceful old ladies!). To cross the fire we had to first bow to the altar, then rub our feet in salt, cross the fire with our hands together (like prayer), and then bow again. We got a free mochi rice cake as well. It was all very fast, so unfortunately it was difficult to get pictures. The fire was very hot, and a bit painful, but it was like 3 seconds to cross, so not really long enough to hurt too much.
Afterwards we caught the bus back to Kurayoshi station, went and bought some delicious bread from a bakery, and rode the train back to Chizu! It was a long day!

A Day at Elementary School

The hallway outside the teacher's room at
elementary school.

5:45am - I wake up to the sound of my cellphone's alarm. After laying in bed for 3 minutes I decide to get up. I go to the living room and check Facebook and my email on my laptop. I usually eat some kind of bread and yogurt.

7:30am - I rush out the door, later than I meant to leave. I say goodbye to Justin and Yana and catch the elevator down to the first floor. Occasionally I run into a lady who works at the city hall (she lives in the same building). 

7:32am - I walk across the street to the bridge which goes over the train tracks. A large group of elementary school kids are gathered on the steps, waiting to walk to school together. I say good morning to them and walk past.

I cross over the train tracks and walk to what I call the "town square". I usually run into a group of three JHS girls and say good morning to them as I pass. I follow the road through the square, over the river, past the bakery (Mmmmm, smell that fresh bread baking!), over the river again, and up the hill. Along the way I pass several groups of students, both elementary and junior high. Near the school I greet the crossing guards. and join whatever group of kids is currently arriving. This morning a cat visited the school and was being carried around by the students, who were all following it around like the god among mortals that it is.

7:50am - I arrive in the teacher's entrance. I remove my outside shoes and pad across the tile to my shoe locker. I place my outside shoes inside (Wow, it smells in there...) and change into my indoor shoes. I turn the corner into the teacher's room and shout "Ohayou gozaimasuuuuu!" and everyone responds in turn. I sit at my desk and collect my items for the day's classes. I also see whats on my desk (Any papers I can't read? Any treats from teachers who travelled somewhere?).

8:10am - I meet with the 2 teachers who I co-teach with that day. I only ever have 2 classes a day. We go over the material and make a lesson plan. It doesn't take long; they're mostly pre-made already. 

8:25am - I go up to the second floor to grab a book from the library. Every morning I do reading for 10 minutes to a different class from 1st to 4th graders. Today I grab a Richard Scarry book about Lowly Worm.

8:30am - I arrive in 3-2 class and read them the book. Debatable about the success of said reading. Can't tell if they're bored to tears or just attentive.

8:40am - Reading is over, so I return downstairs to the teacher's room. I sit at the communal computer doing research on activities for my classes. I'm working on a giant compendium of things for each unit.

10:40am - Finally my class begins! I go up to the 6th grade class on the 3rd floor. Today we're learning about directions. The lesson is a bit boring and I try to stay  attentive. This is our 2nd or 3rd class on directions and I do the same thing for both 6th grade classes, so in the end I teach 6-10 classes on the same subject. Halfway through class a boy walks in. His entire hand is bandaged up. The teacher tells me he broke his finger playing dodge ball...intense.

11:25am - Class ends. I rush downstairs and exchange my 6th grade stuff for 5th grade stuff and climb back to the 3rd floor. Today is 5-1 and we're learning about colors. This class is really great at English. Today they show me how awesome they can pronounce "white". Seems silly, but its a sound which is difficult for many Japanese people. Even the teacher is surprised.

12:15pm - My second and last class of the day ends. I make my way back downstairs to the teacher's room. I'm now both starving and extremely apprehensive about what lunch could be today. I sit at my desk and write about the classes in my logbooks. Then I grab my lunch tray and carefully walk to wherever I'm eating lunch. 

12:20 - 1:05pm - Today I eat with the 4-1 class. The kids are super happy to see me and have a janken (rock paper scissors) battle for who gets to sit with me. The kids are shy at first, but then start asking me questions. One kid asks how old I am and when I say "Twenty four" he translates it as 50. Near the end of lunch a girl comes and closely examines my hair, which is in braids today. The girls all ask if I did it myself. Yes, yes I did. The girl decides to cover my eyes with her hands...while I'm eating. I attempt tickle her. She does not release me. I accept my fate and silently sit there with my eyes covered. She later drags me along to help clean up from lunch. The kids are in charge of picking up, serving, and returning the school lunch. 

The front of the elementary school.

1:05 - 1:30pm - Lunch break time. The kids from 4-1 ask if I want to play with them. I put my water bottle back in the staff room, change my shoes, and meet them outside. We decide to play onigokko, a Japanese variant of tag. Seems like most of the kids play it. We race through the playground. I've learnt that the best way to keep from being tagged is to run into a group of kids doing something else and look like you belong...well, it works for the Japanese kids, but it seems like I stand out a bit too much to blend in so easily. Near the end of break my supervisor S-san appears at school with some papers for me. The bell rings and I go back inside and collapse at my desk. I chug water and break out my fan. When I feel like I can move again, I go over to the computer.

2:00pm - The teacher of the class I ate lunch with (4-1) comes into the teacher's room and hands me the hair elastic one of her students had absconded with. We laugh.

2:30 - The principal wanders through the teacher's room and makes random conversation with me. Usually he asks where Yana is. Seems like somehow we have the same conversation every time.

3:00pm - I hear the bear deterrent bells on the younger kids' backpacks and go out to the hallway to say goodbye. Sometimes I end up being mauled by children, but today I escape unscathed.

3:55pm - Two students come up and give me a present. Its a small piece of cooked sweet potatoe. They had their monthly club activities today and were in cooking club.

4:20pm - I leave for home. Sometimes I chat with the teachers first. Officially I'm done at 4pm, but usually I finish up whatever I'm working on and then go. Sometimes I pass a few students on the way home and say goodbye to them.

My First Day Teaching at ES

My desk at ES. On the left are gifts from 1st graders.

When I arrived at school this morning, Kocho-sensei greeted me with a look of confusion and then started talking about which days I was supposed to be there, which in turn confused me and I had a minor moment of panic where I thought I had messed up. Turns out Kocho-sensei thought I came on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, instead of Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I had some free time in the teacher's room until my class at third period. I spent the time printing out and binding copies of the lesson plans in English - very useful!

My class was at 10:40 with 6-1. I started with my self introduction powerpoint presentation. The kids were really responsive and loved the short video I showed. Interestingly when I show the video the kids always point out the northern lights ("aura").

After that all the kids did self introductions for me. They were really good - I was so pleased!

Next I got my first taste of actually teaching. The JTE and I taught the kids some vocabulary for directions and buildings. Next we played a game called ohajiki. Basically, its like bingo, but the students picked 5 buildings from a diagram of 13. I called out the vocabulary words one by one and the first to get all 5 picks called wins! They loved it!

Classes are shorter at ES, so that was all we had time for. I hung out in the teacher's room for a bit until it was lunch time. Then I went back to 6-1 and ate lunch in their classroom. It was curry rice! And an omelette with tomato sauce inside, and a vegetable salad with creepy little fish in it. And milk.

The kids invited me to play with them, as after lunch they have 1 hour of free time. I went out and they tried to explain the rules of their game, but then the kids sort of wandered off and I was attacked by a bunch of cute little first graders. They came up and grabbed my hand, saying, "isshou ni asobu?" (shall we play together?) in the cutest way, so I said sure! I played a bunch of games with them; I had no clue what was going on, but man, those kids tired me out! We were running all around outside the school for the entire hour, including up and down the stairs of their mountain-side garden several times. Finally the bell rang and I was free! I collapsed into my chair in the teacher's room, sweating profusely.

A little later, K-sensei took me on a little tour of the school. She showed me the English books in the library. The kids have mandatory 10 minutes of reading every morning before school, so each day I go and read to a different class.

Around 3pm I saw a bunch of 1st graders leaving, so I wandered out to the hallway to wave them off. A bunch of them came up to me to say goodbye. They really liked the braids in my hair - one girl asked if I did it myself, hehe. The first graders are really the cutest, I wish I got to teach them too!

My First Class

As I've mentioned, I go to the JHS on Mon / Wed / Fri. However, we discovered yesterday that the ES opening ceremony was on a Wednesday, so it was decided that I should go there until 10am and then return to the JHS .

I arrived a bit early at the ES, as the ceremony started at 9:00 am. I used this chance to give kocho-sensei a gift for the school, which was several books in English. There is a famous Canadian author from my city ( Robert Munsch), and I included two of his books.

I sat in my desk until the ceremony began, watching the kids walk past the teacher's room to the gym. Some of them stared, some waved, and one stopped dead in her tracks with a look of shock and awe. I also met a lady from the town office, who was there to take notes and photos for a column in the town newsletter!

After all the students had entered the gym, I came in and stood at the back. Kocho-sensei did an opening type of speech first, which also included a lecture about greetings. He even had a graph for all the kids! I have no idea how one makes a graph about greetings, but I guess this is serious business. After his speech, there was another speech introducing me. At one point he told them all to look where I was standing or something, because all of a sudden the faces of 200 kids were glued to where I was and the little first graders at the back were all leaping in the air trying to get a look at me. Then Kyoto-sensei showed me to the stage, and then it was time for my self introduction! I basically said the same thing as at the JHS. I exited the stage and stood with the other teachers.

Next up was an awards ceremony for swimming. I was standing beside the first graders, and one little boy caught my eye as he fidgeted with his shirt and nametag and kept whining about how hot it was. I feel ya, kid. There was also a huge dragonfly circulating the gym, which caused a lot of the kids to lose attention. After that was a review of the importance of greetings and several other things. The teacher who lead this did so by holding up the written hiragana which was the first letter of the word (ex. A for aisatsu, greetings). At one point he held up mi, and one little boy excitedly shouted, 'MISO!'

At the end of the ceremony, I went back to the staff room and had a very awkward interview with the lady from the newsletter. I felt bad for her, she had no idea how to translate what she wanted to ask me. We were a little late, so Kyoto-sensei called the JHS to let them know and the newsletter lady walked me over there.

I WAS Supposed to Have a Lesson first period with Handicapped students, but I missed That Being at ES. So My first Lesson WAS at half past one pm with 2 nd Graders (Grade 8). the When I got to School I did some planning with Lesson the JTE for that class, which helped me feel a little more secure.

At 11:20 am, N-san came by the staff room. She held out a folder to me with some sticky notes on it, which started 'Anje, Thank you for your BIG help!' I was confused, like, what did I to help whom? Anyway, I read a little further and I guess someone wanted me to help translate and proofread some information on Chizu! I'm actually pretty excited, to think that I can help with something like that. She also had me fill out some information and stamp my personal seal on some documents for health insurance. For some reason Justin had been named as the family provider instead of me ?! Anyway, the paperwork was to show that Justin and Yana are my dependents.

Around 12:45 I went to the kitchen to eat lunch with Kyoto-sensei. Today was rice, milk, chikuwa and bamboo salad thing, fried fish with tonkatsu sauce, and tofu and wakame soup. The fish was actually alright! I was' Thrilled with the t Shikuwa or Soup Though, so I WAS glad WHEN Kyoto-Sensei HAD to leave Quickly. But then the Office Ladies Came in to Eat with me! They're all really Understanding, Though. I feel bad! Oh, I also had to pay for my school lunch today! It is Y315 a day! I kinda dislike the lunches, but its so freaking cheap. Its almost worth it anyway, because the rice is always good and I can take the milk home for Yana or for cooking.

After lunch, at 1:30 pm was my first class! I was a bit nervous, but actually not that much because it was mostly just a self-introduction class rather than actually teaching. J-sensei came to pick me up from the teacher's room and we ran to class together (ran because we were late!). Our lesson plan was to do greetings, have me to a brief verbal self-introduction, give the students a quiz about me and have them guess the answers. I was amused to see one student use a pencil to answer the multiple choice questions - she has carved away the end and written A, B, C, D on each side and would roll the pencil to get a random answer.

Then I did a powerpoint presentation about myself and also included the answers to the quiz. In one slide I had a collage of me with Canadian things ... one boy thought the beaver was a capybara! After the presentation, J-sensei went over the answers again. Lastly, we had each student do a short self introduction. They had to say their name, what they liked, and what they play. One student said, 'I like keshigomi (eraser).' I could not stop laughing ! The class (2-1) is really energetic and silly, but they're a bit shy when it comes to English. They all speak very loudly in Japanese and so quietly in English that I had to stand at each person's desk to hear them speak. They seemed happy enough with the class though, so I feel okay about that!

My First Day At Chizu ES

Chizu Elementary School entrance.

I only visit my elementary school on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for some reason I couldn't visit last week, so today was my first day! Because of that, I wasn't sure if today was the opening ceremony (first day of classes) or not. Just in case, I tried to go prepared with my suit, a powerpoint self introduction, props, and omiyage.

For some reason, N-san told me we would walk to school together today, I'm not sure why, but it was nice to have the company. She also informed me that the opening ceremony is tomorrow, so I guess I brought all that stuff for no reason. Ah well.

N-san brought me into the teacher's room and dropped me off. I was shown to my desk and I had just started going through all the stuff in there when K-sensei approached me. She isn't one of my JTEs (she's a first grade home room teacher), but she speaks English probably the best. She helped explain the school schedule and my class schedule. She also introduced me to the 4 JTEs I will work with, who sit behind me: R-sensei, N-sensei, H-sensei, and K-sensei (a different K of course).

At 9:00am we had a teacher's meeting. I didn't really understand most of it, but I could tell that the teachers were talking about situations in some student's lives. I thought that was really interesting. When announcements were done all the teachers introduced themselves to me and then I did a short introduction myself.

After the meeting K-sensei took me and all the JTEs upstairs to the classroom to discuss lesson plans for Thursday and next Tuesday. I only teach 5th and 6th grade, two classes each, so although I teach 4 classes total, there are only two plans.

Once the English meeting was over, it was time for desk warming, a.k.a. shuffling papers and randomly making notes to look busy. Actually it wasn't toooooo bad, since I still had a ton of stuff in my desk that I wanted to look over.

Lunch time came around, and I hadn't brought my lunch because I wasn't sure if it would be provided today or not. It was okay, though, because K-sensei took me and the other K-sensei and three other teachers to lunch at a restaurant down the road called Foret de Claige. I ended up ordering some kind of pizza with possibly deer sausage? Also some kind of soup which just tasted like warm cream, a dish of spaghetti, sausage, and mushrooms, and a pretty delicious salad/coleslaw thing. It was really fun and the teachers were all so nice and talkative. They kept asking all about me and Yana and Justin. They also recommended a preschool for Yana.

Accidentally, we were 5 minutes late getting back to school, because at 1:00pm there was some kind of computer training. I have no idea what it was about, and I don't have a laptop on my desk, so I had to sort of entertain myself quietly for 2 hours. I was so bored that I started translating the all-Japanese lesson plans for the English textbook. My supervisor from the BOE, O-san, was actually sitting beside me (he was visiting for the computer training) and noticed me and went and exclaimed to K-sensei and the JTEs about this crazy and sad thing I was doing. So then what started as me mostly wasting time ended up as a big kerfluffle as O-san translated the page for me instead of doing his computer training!

Computer training finally ended and K-sensei told me I could go home. I slowly got my things together and ended up in the hallway looking and photos on a bulletin board. She found me out there and told me again to go home. I left for home and it was actually sunny for once, so I really enjoyed the scenery on the way.

A view of the school grounds, taken from the entrance. Further down the road to the left is the JHS.